When word leaked that Exxon CEO Rex Tillerson, a holder of the Order of Friendship award in Putin’s Russia, was Donald Trump’s choice for secretary of state, John McCain had this thoughtful response:

“Vladimir Putin is a thug, a bully, and a murderer and anybody else who describes him as anything else is lying.”

Yet, Putin is something else, the leader of the largest nation on earth, a great power with enough nuclear weapons to wipe the United States off the face of the earth. And we have to deal with him.

McCain was echoed by the senior Democrat on foreign relations, Bob Menendez, who said naming Tillerson secretary of state would be “alarming and absurd … guaranteeing Russia has a willing accomplice in the (Trump) Cabinet guiding our nation’s foreign policy.”

Sen Marco Rubio chimed in: “Being a ‘friend of Vladimir’ is not an attribute I am hoping for from a Secretary of State.”

If just three GOP senators vote no on Tillerson, and Democrats vote as a bloc against him, his nomination would go down. President Trump would sustain a major and humiliating defeat.

Who is Tillerson? A corporate titan, he has traveled the world, represented Exxon in 60 countries, is on a first-name basis with countless leaders, and is endorsed by Condi Rice and Robert Gates.

Dr. Samuel Johnson’s observation — “A man is seldom more innocently occupied than when he is engaged in making money” — may be a bit of a stretch when it comes to OPEC and the global oil market.

Yet there is truth to it. Most businessmen are interested in doing deals, making money, and, if the terms are not met, walking away, not starting a war.

And here is the heart of the objection to Tillerson. He wants to end sanctions and partner with Putin’s Russia, as does Trump. But among many in the mainstream media, think tanks, websites, and on the Hill, this is craven appeasement. For such as these, the Cold War is never over.

The attacks on Tillerson coincide with new attacks on Russia, based on CIA sources, alleging that not only did Moscow hack into the Democratic Party and Clinton campaign, and leak what it found to hurt Hillary Clinton, but Russia was trying to help elect Trump, and succeeded.

Why would Moscow do this?

Monday’s editorial in The New York Times explains: “In Mr. Trump, the Russians had reason to see a malleable political novice, one who had surrounded himself with Kremlin lackeys.”

Backed by Democratic leader Sen. Chuck Schumer, McCain has announced an investigation. The goal, said the Times, is to determine “whether anyone within Trump’s inner circle coordinated with the Kremlin and whether Moscow spread fake news to hurt Mrs. Clinton.”

What is going on here? More than meets the eye.

The people who most indignantly condemned Trump’s questioning of Obama’s birth certificate as a scurrilous scheme to delegitimize his presidency, now seek to delegitimize Trump’s presidency.

The Times editorial spoke of a “darkening cloud” already over the Trump presidency, and warned that a failure to investigate and discover the full truth of Russia’s hacking could only “feed suspicion among millions of Americans that … (t)he election was indeed rigged.”

Behind the effort to smear Tillerson and delegitimize Trump lies a larger motive. Trump has antagonists in both parties who alarmed at his triumph because it imperils the foreign policy agenda that is their raison d’etre, their reason for being.

These people do not want to lift sanctions on Moscow. They do not want an end to the confrontation with Russia. As is seen by their bringing in tiny Montenegro, they want to enlarge NATO to encompass Sweden, Finland, Ukraine, Georgia and Moldova.

They have in mind the permanent U.S. encirclement of Russia.

ORDER IT NOW

They want to provide offensive weapons to Kiev to reignite the civil war in the Donbass and enable Ukraine to move on Crimea. This would mean a war with Russia that Ukraine would lose and we and our NATO allies would be called upon to intervene in and fight.

Their goal is to bring down Putin and bring about “regime change” in Moscow.

In the campaign, Trump said he wanted to get along with Russia, to support all the forces inside Syria and Iraq fighting to wipe out ISIS and al-Qaida, and to stay out of any new Middle East wars — like the disaster in Iraq — that have cost us “six trillion dollars.”

This is what America voted for when it voted for Trump — to put America First and “make America great again.” But War Party agitators are already beating the drums for confrontation with Iran.

Early in his presidency, if not before, Trump is going to have to impose his foreign policy upon his own party and, indeed, upon his own government. Or his presidency will be broken, as was Lyndon Johnson’s.

A good place to begin is by accepting the McCain-Marco challenge and nominating Rex Tillerson for secretary of state. Let’s get it on.

Patrick J. Buchanan is the author of the new book “The Greatest Comeback: How Richard Nixon Rose From Defeat to Create the New Majority.”

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I have asked myself why does Arizona keep returning McStain to Washington. All I can come up with is Arizona voters must be evil or stupid or both. And look at the governors of New Jersey and Florida. Two obvious self serving ass holes from the same mold as Menendez and Rubio. There must be something in the water.

Are you kidding? People in AZ are as dumb as the ones who keep voting for war with russia's senator Graham. Dumb (Graham) and dumber (McCain) are both loved by their voters for being obstructionists and a pain in the neck of Our next president Trump. Remember, both of those bastards gave him a hard time while Trump was campaigning, So now, they still have their rabid fiendish animosity towards him.

His iron grip on the state Republican Party, along with his record of successful party purges, ensures his continual renomination.

His primary opponents -- when he has any -- lack the intelligence to run against him one at a time, guaranteeing fragmentation of the opposition vote; or if they do, I suspect he routinely funds a third (someone like, say, Clair Van Steenwyk, a wackjob who was actually running in the R primary this year for a Senate AND a House seat simultaneously) to achieve the same effect.

Past the primary, his D opponent is invariably a liberal like Ann Kirkpatrick that no true Arizonan wants to see in federal office, and the stubborn voter willing to take that risk for one term if only to oust McCain is besieged by other Republican voters clamoring about the apocalyptic danger of losing Senate majority status.

It's an easy game to win when you understand it, and McCain plays it well.

This would mean a war with Russia that Ukraine would lose and we and our NATO allies would be called upon to intervene in and fight.

Their goal is to bring down Putin and bring about “regime change” in Moscow.

their goal, as I’m sure Mr. Buchanan knows.. is to finish what they started in the last century.

to hammer that stake though the heart of the Western man, once and for all.

it’s a raw conflict between the Fiend and the sons and daughters of Europa. A civilizational contest to end Western civilization, or preserve her.

They managed to slaughter off a hundred million or so Europeans during the Fiend’s World Wars of the last century, but yet so many endure! A massive- just short of nuclear war between Russia and Eastern Europe/NATO would all but finish the job. Muslims and Africans could be brought in for the mop-up operations.

This is it.

And it’s being fought right now in the backrooms of the ‘intelligence’ communities and military high commands with Machiavellian deals to ensure people’s places in whatever is left when the smoke clears.

There are two things Putin could do. One is for Russia to mollify Eastern Europe and stop provoking them all with paeans to the Red Army rapists, whom Eastern Europe remembers all too well. The other is to let the ziocons know that at the fist sign of an existential war with Russia, Israel (NYC/London/Paris) will get the big one. Russia, of all countries must know the horrors of the Bolshevik/Zionist’s wars, and must Never Again allow such people to rule her ‘by the hair of the head’.

In the meantime, we Americans have to let our politicians know that we support Trump and peace and sanity and are wiling to repudiate these treasonous Senators and their scurrilous treachery with all legal means at our disposal.

John McBloodstain has been a traitor and a lickspittle to the Fiend for far too long. The people of this great nation- the throngs that show up at Trump rallies, have to let the people of Arizona know just how much of an embarrassment they are to themselves. Venal idiots and dangerous fools, they must be made to repudiate the vile, treasonous Bloodstain before he’s allowed to do anymore damage to America or the world.

The fate of the 21 century and humanity’s future is being wrangled with by some very evil forces vs. American patriots. We have to do more than just pray.

Excellent questions. I especially like the idea of TRUMP proposing greatly reduced war expenditures -- though admittedly not reduced non-war military spending -- and pitching it to democrats especially as something that's possible only with improved us-russian relations.

Then, in line with your peace dividend question, Trump could get his foreign policy cabinet folks confirmed without a big fight, in return for part of the saved war spending going instead to major fed funding to repair and build bridges, roads, and airports on all their districts and states. Something he may do anyway to some degree.

"One of the worse things to come out of the illegal Vietnam war was North Vietnam releasing John McCain."

It wasn't an illegal war, Congress authorized the use of military force. And at least he served with honor and distinction for his nation. He almost died for women like you to make such asinine statements.

How is Juan "Manchurian" McCain still in office? I thought Arizona conservatives were pretty "based," as the kids say

I have asked myself why does Arizona keep returning McStain to Washington. All I can come up with is Arizona voters must be evil or stupid or both. And look at the governors of New Jersey and Florida. Two obvious self serving ass holes from the same mold as Menendez and Rubio. There must be something in the water.

This would mean a war with Russia that Ukraine would lose and we and our NATO allies would be called upon to intervene in and fight.

Their goal is to bring down Putin and bring about “regime change” in Moscow.

their goal, as I'm sure Mr. Buchanan knows.. is to finish what they started in the last century.

to hammer that stake though the heart of the Western man, once and for all.

it's a raw conflict between the Fiend and the sons and daughters of Europa. A civilizational contest to end Western civilization, or preserve her.

They managed to slaughter off a hundred million or so Europeans during the Fiend's World Wars of the last century, but yet so many endure! A massive- just short of nuclear war between Russia and Eastern Europe/NATO would all but finish the job. Muslims and Africans could be brought in for the mop-up operations.

This is it.

And it's being fought right now in the backrooms of the 'intelligence' communities and military high commands with Machiavellian deals to ensure people's places in whatever is left when the smoke clears.

There are two things Putin could do. One is for Russia to mollify Eastern Europe and stop provoking them all with paeans to the Red Army rapists, whom Eastern Europe remembers all too well. The other is to let the ziocons know that at the fist sign of an existential war with Russia, Israel (NYC/London/Paris) will get the big one. Russia, of all countries must know the horrors of the Bolshevik/Zionist's wars, and must Never Again allow such people to rule her 'by the hair of the head'.

In the meantime, we Americans have to let our politicians know that we support Trump and peace and sanity and are wiling to repudiate these treasonous Senators and their scurrilous treachery with all legal means at our disposal.

John McBloodstain has been a traitor and a lickspittle to the Fiend for far too long. The people of this great nation- the throngs that show up at Trump rallies, have to let the people of Arizona know just how much of an embarrassment they are to themselves. Venal idiots and dangerous fools, they must be made to repudiate the vile, treasonous Bloodstain before he's allowed to do anymore damage to America or the world.

The fate of the 21 century and humanity's future is being wrangled with by some very evil forces vs. American patriots. We have to do more than just pray.

And perhaps some not so legal means for that’s all they understand and that’s what the people should have done after they murdered JFK King and a few others.!!

I have asked myself why does Arizona keep returning McStain to Washington. All I can come up with is Arizona voters must be evil or stupid or both. And look at the governors of New Jersey and Florida. Two obvious self serving ass holes from the same mold as Menendez and Rubio. There must be something in the water.

AZ and FL both have many retirees, guess they don’t like to rock the boat.

McCain, Graham, & Ryan are just the messengers or sock puppets of various powerful donors.
The question that people should be busying themselves with is:

Who are those donors, and what orders have they given their minions (beyond what is obvious)?

How then do we get rid of these 3 in the primaries? It is too late to stop McCain (he will either retire before 2022 or be too senile to continue), but it would be great to know who his key backers were in the last primary. Ryan can be stopped in 2018, and Graham in 2020. Ryan will be harder to dispatch – his district is mostly full of old school GOPe types, and he got >80% of the primary vote last time. Graham should be relatively easy to defeat if he keeps on antagonizing DJT.

I was reading some of the news about McCain's run. He was given massive support by the GOPe over Kelli Ward. It wasn't even close the amount of money spent to keep him in place. The nomination was the real fight and I was sorry to see Trump give McCain a tout. That was probably Trump foolishly thinking he was buying intraparty peace. Look what the GOPe is doing to him now. He probably feels stupid.

No its not! He is a jack ass, and we do need to release the classified stuff from his betrayal while in captivity to the commies. Why it still classified is a mystery to me. Trump should declassify it, and embarrass the senile McKiller.

One of the worse things to come out of the illegal Vietnam war was North Vietnam releasing John McCain.

“One of the worse things to come out of the illegal Vietnam war was North Vietnam releasing John McCain.”

It wasn’t an illegal war, Congress authorized the use of military force. And at least he served with honor and distinction for his nation. He almost died for women like you to make such asinine statements.

Excuse me but wasn't the 'trigger' for the war the Tonkin Gulf "Attack"? that never actually happened? Of course it was an illegal war, and one that a former Marine vet described to me as having destroyed America's promise.

McCain is an embarrassment to America in every sense of the word, his poor record of service (including accusations of treason), his treatment of his former wife, his record as a troublemaking Senator, his seemingly abundant stupidity, his willingness to be bought, and on it goes.

Yes, he served but the rest is propaganda. He was a pampered admiral's son and yet graduated 894th of 899 graduates at the Naval Academy. He crashed planes and disregarded protocol, which is why he was shot down. Then he became the Tokyo Rose of Hanoi. He's a disgrace.

Of course it was as all the rest of the wars have been after all the CONSTITUTION clearly states that the congress has to issue a declaration of war rather than mush mouth the idea, that well yes we will fund it which of course is no declaration at all.Now if you can find any other means within the Constitution to take this country to war I would be more than glad to be corrected but please list the article that states such.!!

I read McCain stared the Forrestal fire by hot shotting,sang for the Vietnamese,and his second wife is the daughter of a mob underling of the Meyer Lanski gang.
He probably should thank Trump for his coattails the creep.
And Vietnam sucked,55,000 dead,and more wounded for absolutely nothing but idiotic regime change anti commie garbage we still are afflicted with 50 years later,except radical Islam the bugaboo.Which it is,a self created nonsensical attack on the ME for the Israelis,creating enemies and hatred never thrown our way before.
Can Trump defeat Israeli Occupied Territory?(congress)

That is not what the prisoners who were with him said. Also, watch what he did here:

McCain was accused of accidentally firing an armed Zuni missile across the deck of the USS Forrestal during the Vietnam war.This incident of which he was later cleared caused the death of 134 sailors and seriously injured (blown off arms, legs, caused blindness and burns to another 161 sailors) all took the ship off the battle line for extensive repairs. However the investigation went his way and he was not charged BUT doubts still exist. and accusations were leveled at the Navy for covering it up. the Navy is our most politically involved/connected service.

“Early in his presidency, if not before, Trump is going to have to impose his foreign policy upon his own party and, indeed, upon his own government. ”

Play hardball. Don’t be nice to them. You must get dirty when draining the swamp.

McCain – Release tapes of broadcasts from Hanoi and proof of his dealings with ISIS
Obama – Show proof that Obama travelled on Indonesian passport and all you can get on him.
Un-sanitize his biography.
Clinton – Continue investigation into server, Benghazi and pay to play. Lock her up.
Schumer – Get some dirt on this guy! NSA?

"One of the worse things to come out of the illegal Vietnam war was North Vietnam releasing John McCain."

It wasn't an illegal war, Congress authorized the use of military force. And at least he served with honor and distinction for his nation. He almost died for women like you to make such asinine statements.

Excuse me but wasn’t the ‘trigger’ for the war the Tonkin Gulf “Attack”? that never actually happened? Of course it was an illegal war, and one that a former Marine vet described to me as having destroyed America’s promise.

McCain is an embarrassment to America in every sense of the word, his poor record of service (including accusations of treason), his treatment of his former wife, his record as a troublemaking Senator, his seemingly abundant stupidity, his willingness to be bought, and on it goes.

Excuse me but wasn't the 'trigger' for the war the Tonkin Gulf "Attack"? that never actually happened? Of course it was an illegal war, and one that a former Marine vet described to me as having destroyed America's promise.

McCain is an embarrassment to America in every sense of the word, his poor record of service (including accusations of treason), his treatment of his former wife, his record as a troublemaking Senator, his seemingly abundant stupidity, his willingness to be bought, and on it goes.

John “Wet Start” McCain, a menace to his fellow sailors, and then to Arizona and America.
Ron Unz wrote about him, worth a read.

If they (the Congress) try to do to Trump what they did to Obama will they succeed?

Can Trump reach across the aisle to garner support from war averse liberals?

What is the schedule for secretaries taking office vs. being confirmed?

Will Democrats risk stimulus funds for their district by obdurately opposing Trump?

Will Trump make the case for a peace dividend?

Excellent questions. I especially like the idea of TRUMP proposing greatly reduced war expenditures — though admittedly not reduced non-war military spending — and pitching it to democrats especially as something that’s possible only with improved us-russian relations.

Then, in line with your peace dividend question, Trump could get his foreign policy cabinet folks confirmed without a big fight, in return for part of the saved war spending going instead to major fed funding to repair and build bridges, roads, and airports on all their districts and states. Something he may do anyway to some degree.

"One of the worse things to come out of the illegal Vietnam war was North Vietnam releasing John McCain."

It wasn't an illegal war, Congress authorized the use of military force. And at least he served with honor and distinction for his nation. He almost died for women like you to make such asinine statements.

"One of the worse things to come out of the illegal Vietnam war was North Vietnam releasing John McCain."

It wasn't an illegal war, Congress authorized the use of military force. And at least he served with honor and distinction for his nation. He almost died for women like you to make such asinine statements.

“served with honor and distinction..”

Yes, he served but the rest is propaganda. He was a pampered admiral’s son and yet graduated 894th of 899 graduates at the Naval Academy. He crashed planes and disregarded protocol, which is why he was shot down. Then he became the Tokyo Rose of Hanoi. He’s a disgrace.

Excuse me but wasn't the 'trigger' for the war the Tonkin Gulf "Attack"? that never actually happened? Of course it was an illegal war, and one that a former Marine vet described to me as having destroyed America's promise.

McCain is an embarrassment to America in every sense of the word, his poor record of service (including accusations of treason), his treatment of his former wife, his record as a troublemaking Senator, his seemingly abundant stupidity, his willingness to be bought, and on it goes.

His antics between being commissioned and being sent to Vietnam would have gotten an officer who was not an Admiral’s son dismissed from the service.

"One of the worse things to come out of the illegal Vietnam war was North Vietnam releasing John McCain."

It wasn't an illegal war, Congress authorized the use of military force. And at least he served with honor and distinction for his nation. He almost died for women like you to make such asinine statements.

Of course it was as all the rest of the wars have been after all the CONSTITUTION clearly states that the congress has to issue a declaration of war rather than mush mouth the idea, that well yes we will fund it which of course is no declaration at all.Now if you can find any other means within the Constitution to take this country to war I would be more than glad to be corrected but please list the article that states such.!!

What are you smoking? What Russia's invasion? You have been drinking the MSM Kool-Aid. You are the one who is parroting the neocon and MSM propaganda. Russia never invaded Ukraine. It was the American intervention and overthrow of democratically elected government of Ukraine that started the whole mess there. Crimea seceded from Ukraine which it had the right to do.

There was no Russian invasion of Ukraine and I'm pretty sure you know it. On other subjects you seem fairly reasonable. You don't fit the definition of a troll. Why do you consistently lie about Russia? What's in it for you?

For once you are almost correct on an issue, almost but at least it's an improvement on your usual arse-backwards postings. The war in Ukraine is not a civil war. It started as a US-backed coup which subsequently became a war of succession.

The independent states of the former east of Ukraine are not seeking to control anywhere other than their own territory which they have to defend from the US-backed aggression coming from Kiev. Crimea has already seceded by means of a democratic vote.

Read out loud 100 times and possibly it will help your chronic case of verbal diarrhoea.

Crimea was a Russian invasion, but largely supported (and totally unopposed) by the local population, whereas the Donbass was a combination of Russian agitation and probably weapons supply and some organizational help on one hand and some outright Russian intervention on behalf of the rebels in August 2014 on the other.

The Ukrainian army was shooting densely populated areas in Donbass leading to a lot of civilian casualties (probably more out of incompetence and lack of adequate equipment and training than out of malice), and from what I read (and from what I know of human psychology), the population - already inclined to a pro-Russian stance - grew hostile to the Ukrainian government, and possibly even Ukraine as a whole, as a result.

In the meantime (again, based on what I read, and my knowledge of general human psychology), the rest of Ukraine grew more hostile to Russia as a whole, even those parts which used to be pro-Russian before (like Kharkiv), though there might be local exceptions in some parts or demographics of the country.

I personally don't like the idea of a partition of Ukraine (Crimea is another issue to me), but it's difficult to see how it could be achieved without granting some special privileges to these provinces. (I don't think such privileges are much good to the country granting it, like English MPs not voting on Scottish schools but Scottish MPs voting on English schools...) Not an ideal situation. Would've been better if the whole issue (including Crimea) could've been avoided from the get-go.

McCain, Graham, & Ryan are just the messengers or sock puppets of various powerful donors.
The question that people should be busying themselves with is:

Who are those donors, and what orders have they given their minions (beyond what is obvious)?

How then do we get rid of these 3 in the primaries? It is too late to stop McCain (he will either retire before 2022 or be too senile to continue), but it would be great to know who his key backers were in the last primary. Ryan can be stopped in 2018, and Graham in 2020. Ryan will be harder to dispatch - his district is mostly full of old school GOPe types, and he got >80% of the primary vote last time. Graham should be relatively easy to defeat if he keeps on antagonizing DJT.

I was reading some of the news about McCain’s run. He was given massive support by the GOPe over Kelli Ward. It wasn’t even close the amount of money spent to keep him in place. The nomination was the real fight and I was sorry to see Trump give McCain a tout. That was probably Trump foolishly thinking he was buying intraparty peace. Look what the GOPe is doing to him now. He probably feels stupid.

{That was probably Trump foolishly thinking he was buying intraparty peace. Look what the GOPe is doing to him now. He probably feels stupid.}

I think Trump is a lot smarter, more devious (in a positive sense), more manipulative (again, in a positive sense) than his public persona might suggest. He seems to have an innate, well developed sense about human psychology.

He publicly buttered up Neocon Guiliani: then was told to take a hike.He publicly buttered up hapless idiot Romney: then was told he is NFG.All sorts of Neocon scum were floated as possible SectState candidates.And who did he actually nominate? Someone who was not even on radar.

And just a day ago he buttered up traitor Speaker Ryan: Trump silenced the booing and called him a "fine wine".

Like Corleone said "keep your friends close, but enemies closer".(....or was it Machiavelli?)

There is no civil war in Ukraine. It was a Russian invasion from the get go. You write a lot of truth, Pat, but your parroting of Russian propaganda does you no credit.

What are you smoking? What Russia’s invasion? You have been drinking the MSM Kool-Aid. You are the one who is parroting the neocon and MSM propaganda. Russia never invaded Ukraine. It was the American intervention and overthrow of democratically elected government of Ukraine that started the whole mess there. Crimea seceded from Ukraine which it had the right to do.

I was reading some of the news about McCain's run. He was given massive support by the GOPe over Kelli Ward. It wasn't even close the amount of money spent to keep him in place. The nomination was the real fight and I was sorry to see Trump give McCain a tout. That was probably Trump foolishly thinking he was buying intraparty peace. Look what the GOPe is doing to him now. He probably feels stupid.

{That was probably Trump foolishly thinking he was buying intraparty peace. Look what the GOPe is doing to him now. He probably feels stupid.}

I think Trump is a lot smarter, more devious (in a positive sense), more manipulative (again, in a positive sense) than his public persona might suggest. He seems to have an innate, well developed sense about human psychology.

He publicly buttered up Neocon Guiliani: then was told to take a hike.
He publicly buttered up hapless idiot Romney: then was told he is NFG.
All sorts of Neocon scum were floated as possible SectState candidates.
And who did he actually nominate? Someone who was not even on radar.

And just a day ago he buttered up traitor Speaker Ryan: Trump silenced the booing and called him a “fine wine”.

Like Corleone said “keep your friends close, but enemies closer”.
(….or was it Machiavelli?)

"I think Trump is a lot smarter, more devious (in a positive sense), more manipulative (again, in a positive sense) than his public persona might suggest. "

Trump is certainly smarter than a lot of people think.
He won the effing election. It wasn't an accident. He looked at the rules of the game and he won by the rules of the game. He knew he had to get the EC to win, not the pop. vote, and he that is how he geared his campaign.
Just because he was born with some money in his back pocket doesn't mean he is stupid.
Unlike Bush II, who really was/is stupid.
I think people are going to be surprised.
Just as they were surprised by Obama---but in the other direction.

"One of the worse things to come out of the illegal Vietnam war was North Vietnam releasing John McCain."

It wasn't an illegal war, Congress authorized the use of military force. And at least he served with honor and distinction for his nation. He almost died for women like you to make such asinine statements.

I read McCain stared the Forrestal fire by hot shotting,sang for the Vietnamese,and his second wife is the daughter of a mob underling of the Meyer Lanski gang.
He probably should thank Trump for his coattails the creep.
And Vietnam sucked,55,000 dead,and more wounded for absolutely nothing but idiotic regime change anti commie garbage we still are afflicted with 50 years later,except radical Islam the bugaboo.Which it is,a self created nonsensical attack on the ME for the Israelis,creating enemies and hatred never thrown our way before.
Can Trump defeat Israeli Occupied Territory?(congress)

There is no civil war in Ukraine. It was a Russian invasion from the get go. You write a lot of truth, Pat, but your parroting of Russian propaganda does you no credit.

There was no Russian invasion of Ukraine and I’m pretty sure you know it. On other subjects you seem fairly reasonable. You don’t fit the definition of a troll. Why do you consistently lie about Russia? What’s in it for you?

There is no civil war in Ukraine. It was a Russian invasion from the get go. You write a lot of truth, Pat, but your parroting of Russian propaganda does you no credit.

For once you are almost correct on an issue, almost but at least it’s an improvement on your usual arse-backwards postings. The war in Ukraine is not a civil war. It started as a US-backed coup which subsequently became a war of succession.

The independent states of the former east of Ukraine are not seeking to control anywhere other than their own territory which they have to defend from the US-backed aggression coming from Kiev. Crimea has already seceded by means of a democratic vote.

Read out loud 100 times and possibly it will help your chronic case of verbal diarrhoea.

Trump will need to fight members of his own party. There’s no shortage of homosexuals in the Senate (like Rubio and Grahamnesty) and they seem like a particularly vicious, back stabbing and war mongering lot. It takes a red blooded, heterosexual male in Trump to inject some sanity and pragmatism into foreign policy.

There is no civil war in Ukraine. It was a Russian invasion from the get go. You write a lot of truth, Pat, but your parroting of Russian propaganda does you no credit.

Crimea was a Russian invasion, but largely supported (and totally unopposed) by the local population, whereas the Donbass was a combination of Russian agitation and probably weapons supply and some organizational help on one hand and some outright Russian intervention on behalf of the rebels in August 2014 on the other.

The Ukrainian army was shooting densely populated areas in Donbass leading to a lot of civilian casualties (probably more out of incompetence and lack of adequate equipment and training than out of malice), and from what I read (and from what I know of human psychology), the population – already inclined to a pro-Russian stance – grew hostile to the Ukrainian government, and possibly even Ukraine as a whole, as a result.

In the meantime (again, based on what I read, and my knowledge of general human psychology), the rest of Ukraine grew more hostile to Russia as a whole, even those parts which used to be pro-Russian before (like Kharkiv), though there might be local exceptions in some parts or demographics of the country.

I personally don’t like the idea of a partition of Ukraine (Crimea is another issue to me), but it’s difficult to see how it could be achieved without granting some special privileges to these provinces. (I don’t think such privileges are much good to the country granting it, like English MPs not voting on Scottish schools but Scottish MPs voting on English schools…) Not an ideal situation. Would’ve been better if the whole issue (including Crimea) could’ve been avoided from the get-go.

Nonsense, it was nothing of the sort. Suffice to say that out of the total of 18,000 Ukrainian troops stationed in Crimea, 14,000 had chosen to stay and become Russian citizens, most of them joining the Russian military. And these are official Ukrainian numbers, which means that they are, most likely, fabricated to minimize the the degree of pro-Russian sentiment in Crimea - after all, Crimea is supposed to be 'occupied'...

http://investigator.org.ua/news/150490/

With 7/9th (at least) of the Ukrainian troops in Crimea switching sides, who would need any 'invasion'?

It was, pure and simple, an expression of self-determination of the people of the autonomous republic of Crimea.

I really do not think you understand very much about Ukraine.
I am not an expert, but I know a lot more than you!
First, one cannot understand Ukraine-Russian politics without understanding gas politics.

Ukraine govt and oligarchs have been a pain in the butt to Russian for decades (stealing the gas that flows to Europe via Ukraine), and all of the Ukrainian bosses have been part of this screwed-up situation. Russia has had to help Ukraine out constantly. Which it has done willingly because many of those who live in Ukraine, in particular the northeast, are ethnic Russians because of earlier twists in history.

There is a whole lot more that could be said on the economic front---how Russia has kept Ukraine afloat financially---but at some point people have to go and do their own research.
Re" invasion of Crimea", you of course understand that the Russian military has a 99-year treaty with Ukraine for use of the naval base at Sebastopol, hence, Russian military have a right to be in Crimea.

You also understand, of course, that the Catholic/Orthodox line runs right down the middle of Ukraine. It might not mean much to you but it means a heck of a lot in Ukraine. The Catholics on the left bank of the Dnyepr hate the orthodox Russians on the right. After the coup, Russian speakers in Ukraine were attacked and many were killed and otherwise abused, for example, economically. Of course those in the east did not accept the coup government as legitimate. Why should they? It is in fact a puppet regime. There is plenty of evidence of this.

It is kind of funny that the USA thinks it is OK to invade Grenada to protect a few college students, and excoriates Russia for supporting thousands of ethnic Russians in Ukraine with food etc. and kindly accepting the results of the referendum in Crimea. And accepting I don't know how many---possibly a million---refugees in Russia who are fleeing the Nazi Banderitzi in Ukraine .

The USA is, simply, in the wrong in both Ukraine and Syria. In bed with the wrong people. Both situations are evidence of the USA's determination to harass Russia on her borders and near abroad and within her borders anywhere any any way that they can.

I am incredulous that people who have access to the Internet and speak and read English still babble about a Russian "invasion" of Crimea and/or Ukraine.

This would mean a war with Russia that Ukraine would lose and we and our NATO allies would be called upon to intervene in and fight.

Their goal is to bring down Putin and bring about “regime change” in Moscow.

their goal, as I'm sure Mr. Buchanan knows.. is to finish what they started in the last century.

to hammer that stake though the heart of the Western man, once and for all.

it's a raw conflict between the Fiend and the sons and daughters of Europa. A civilizational contest to end Western civilization, or preserve her.

They managed to slaughter off a hundred million or so Europeans during the Fiend's World Wars of the last century, but yet so many endure! A massive- just short of nuclear war between Russia and Eastern Europe/NATO would all but finish the job. Muslims and Africans could be brought in for the mop-up operations.

This is it.

And it's being fought right now in the backrooms of the 'intelligence' communities and military high commands with Machiavellian deals to ensure people's places in whatever is left when the smoke clears.

There are two things Putin could do. One is for Russia to mollify Eastern Europe and stop provoking them all with paeans to the Red Army rapists, whom Eastern Europe remembers all too well. The other is to let the ziocons know that at the fist sign of an existential war with Russia, Israel (NYC/London/Paris) will get the big one. Russia, of all countries must know the horrors of the Bolshevik/Zionist's wars, and must Never Again allow such people to rule her 'by the hair of the head'.

In the meantime, we Americans have to let our politicians know that we support Trump and peace and sanity and are wiling to repudiate these treasonous Senators and their scurrilous treachery with all legal means at our disposal.

John McBloodstain has been a traitor and a lickspittle to the Fiend for far too long. The people of this great nation- the throngs that show up at Trump rallies, have to let the people of Arizona know just how much of an embarrassment they are to themselves. Venal idiots and dangerous fools, they must be made to repudiate the vile, treasonous Bloodstain before he's allowed to do anymore damage to America or the world.

The fate of the 21 century and humanity's future is being wrangled with by some very evil forces vs. American patriots. We have to do more than just pray.

Crimea was a Russian invasion, but largely supported (and totally unopposed) by the local population, whereas the Donbass was a combination of Russian agitation and probably weapons supply and some organizational help on one hand and some outright Russian intervention on behalf of the rebels in August 2014 on the other.

The Ukrainian army was shooting densely populated areas in Donbass leading to a lot of civilian casualties (probably more out of incompetence and lack of adequate equipment and training than out of malice), and from what I read (and from what I know of human psychology), the population - already inclined to a pro-Russian stance - grew hostile to the Ukrainian government, and possibly even Ukraine as a whole, as a result.

In the meantime (again, based on what I read, and my knowledge of general human psychology), the rest of Ukraine grew more hostile to Russia as a whole, even those parts which used to be pro-Russian before (like Kharkiv), though there might be local exceptions in some parts or demographics of the country.

I personally don't like the idea of a partition of Ukraine (Crimea is another issue to me), but it's difficult to see how it could be achieved without granting some special privileges to these provinces. (I don't think such privileges are much good to the country granting it, like English MPs not voting on Scottish schools but Scottish MPs voting on English schools...) Not an ideal situation. Would've been better if the whole issue (including Crimea) could've been avoided from the get-go.

Crimea was a Russian invasion

Nonsense, it was nothing of the sort. Suffice to say that out of the total of 18,000 Ukrainian troops stationed in Crimea, 14,000 had chosen to stay and become Russian citizens, most of them joining the Russian military. And these are official Ukrainian numbers, which means that they are, most likely, fabricated to minimize the the degree of pro-Russian sentiment in Crimea – after all, Crimea is supposed to be ‘occupied’…

How is Juan "Manchurian" McCain still in office? I thought Arizona conservatives were pretty "based," as the kids say

Are you kidding? People in AZ are as dumb as the ones who keep voting for war with russia’s senator Graham. Dumb (Graham) and dumber (McCain) are both loved by their voters for being obstructionists and a pain in the neck of Our next president Trump. Remember, both of those bastards gave him a hard time while Trump was campaigning, So now, they still have their rabid fiendish animosity towards him.

This would mean a war with Russia that Ukraine would lose and we and our NATO allies would be called upon to intervene in and fight.

Their goal is to bring down Putin and bring about “regime change” in Moscow.

their goal, as I'm sure Mr. Buchanan knows.. is to finish what they started in the last century.

to hammer that stake though the heart of the Western man, once and for all.

it's a raw conflict between the Fiend and the sons and daughters of Europa. A civilizational contest to end Western civilization, or preserve her.

They managed to slaughter off a hundred million or so Europeans during the Fiend's World Wars of the last century, but yet so many endure! A massive- just short of nuclear war between Russia and Eastern Europe/NATO would all but finish the job. Muslims and Africans could be brought in for the mop-up operations.

This is it.

And it's being fought right now in the backrooms of the 'intelligence' communities and military high commands with Machiavellian deals to ensure people's places in whatever is left when the smoke clears.

There are two things Putin could do. One is for Russia to mollify Eastern Europe and stop provoking them all with paeans to the Red Army rapists, whom Eastern Europe remembers all too well. The other is to let the ziocons know that at the fist sign of an existential war with Russia, Israel (NYC/London/Paris) will get the big one. Russia, of all countries must know the horrors of the Bolshevik/Zionist's wars, and must Never Again allow such people to rule her 'by the hair of the head'.

In the meantime, we Americans have to let our politicians know that we support Trump and peace and sanity and are wiling to repudiate these treasonous Senators and their scurrilous treachery with all legal means at our disposal.

John McBloodstain has been a traitor and a lickspittle to the Fiend for far too long. The people of this great nation- the throngs that show up at Trump rallies, have to let the people of Arizona know just how much of an embarrassment they are to themselves. Venal idiots and dangerous fools, they must be made to repudiate the vile, treasonous Bloodstain before he's allowed to do anymore damage to America or the world.

The fate of the 21 century and humanity's future is being wrangled with by some very evil forces vs. American patriots. We have to do more than just pray.

I was going to forsake my humble life, and roust up my resources and go to Arizona, and rail and froth and vituperate. I was going to campaign not for anyone in particular, but against McBloodstain. I sort of felt it was like a holy crusade of sorts, to do what I could to thwart this monster's agenda and blood-stained career. But then reality set in and I realized I was a nobody and that no one would pay attention and I'd just languish and fail in sad and pitiful mockery. So I didn't go. But perhaps I should have.

I've been to Arizona, I've met and know people from there. They're not all idiots or venal scum, but enough of them are, alas. Just like S. Carolina when I read Lindsey got re-elected. My head reels and my spine tweaks. How is it possible that these otherwise good people can be that fucking stupid?! Do they really believe God is using Lindsey! to get them their rapture?!

>>sigh<<

Perhaps one day I'll figure out a way to make some kind of difference, but then, I'm also hopeful that we've finally got a president who isn't completely under the thrall of the Fiend. And so perhaps there's some small shred of hope...

I was going to forsake my humble life, and roust up my resources and go to Arizona, and rail and froth and vituperate. I was going to campaign not for anyone in particular, but against McBloodstain. I sort of felt it was like a holy crusade of sorts, to do what I could to thwart this monster’s agenda and blood-stained career. But then reality set in and I realized I was a nobody and that no one would pay attention and I’d just languish and fail in sad and pitiful mockery. So I didn’t go. But perhaps I should have.

I’ve been to Arizona, I’ve met and know people from there. They’re not all idiots or venal scum, but enough of them are, alas. Just like S. Carolina when I read Lindsey got re-elected. My head reels and my spine tweaks. How is it possible that these otherwise good people can be that fucking stupid?! Do they really believe God is using Lindsey! to get them their rapture?!

>>sigh<<

Perhaps one day I'll figure out a way to make some kind of difference, but then, I'm also hopeful that we've finally got a president who isn't completely under the thrall of the Fiend. And so perhaps there's some small shred of hope…

"North Vietnam did the most damage to the US by returning McCain alive."

That's absolutely uncalled for. Grow up.

No its not! He is a jack ass, and we do need to release the classified stuff from his betrayal while in captivity to the commies. Why it still classified is a mystery to me. Trump should declassify it, and embarrass the senile McKiller.

"One of the worse things to come out of the illegal Vietnam war was North Vietnam releasing John McCain."

It wasn't an illegal war, Congress authorized the use of military force. And at least he served with honor and distinction for his nation. He almost died for women like you to make such asinine statements.

“served with honor and distinction for his nation”

That is not what the prisoners who were with him said. Also, watch what he did here:

McCain was accused of accidentally firing an armed Zuni missile across the deck of the USS Forrestal during the Vietnam war.This incident of which he was later cleared caused the death of 134 sailors and seriously injured (blown off arms, legs, caused blindness and burns to another 161 sailors) all took the ship off the battle line for extensive repairs. However the investigation went his way and he was not charged BUT doubts still exist. and accusations were leveled at the Navy for covering it up. the Navy is our most politically involved/connected service.

"One of the worse things to come out of the illegal Vietnam war was North Vietnam releasing John McCain."

It wasn't an illegal war, Congress authorized the use of military force. And at least he served with honor and distinction for his nation. He almost died for women like you to make such asinine statements.

This would mean a war with Russia that Ukraine would lose and we and our NATO allies would be called upon to intervene in and fight.

Their goal is to bring down Putin and bring about “regime change” in Moscow.

their goal, as I'm sure Mr. Buchanan knows.. is to finish what they started in the last century.

to hammer that stake though the heart of the Western man, once and for all.

it's a raw conflict between the Fiend and the sons and daughters of Europa. A civilizational contest to end Western civilization, or preserve her.

They managed to slaughter off a hundred million or so Europeans during the Fiend's World Wars of the last century, but yet so many endure! A massive- just short of nuclear war between Russia and Eastern Europe/NATO would all but finish the job. Muslims and Africans could be brought in for the mop-up operations.

This is it.

And it's being fought right now in the backrooms of the 'intelligence' communities and military high commands with Machiavellian deals to ensure people's places in whatever is left when the smoke clears.

There are two things Putin could do. One is for Russia to mollify Eastern Europe and stop provoking them all with paeans to the Red Army rapists, whom Eastern Europe remembers all too well. The other is to let the ziocons know that at the fist sign of an existential war with Russia, Israel (NYC/London/Paris) will get the big one. Russia, of all countries must know the horrors of the Bolshevik/Zionist's wars, and must Never Again allow such people to rule her 'by the hair of the head'.

In the meantime, we Americans have to let our politicians know that we support Trump and peace and sanity and are wiling to repudiate these treasonous Senators and their scurrilous treachery with all legal means at our disposal.

John McBloodstain has been a traitor and a lickspittle to the Fiend for far too long. The people of this great nation- the throngs that show up at Trump rallies, have to let the people of Arizona know just how much of an embarrassment they are to themselves. Venal idiots and dangerous fools, they must be made to repudiate the vile, treasonous Bloodstain before he's allowed to do anymore damage to America or the world.

The fate of the 21 century and humanity's future is being wrangled with by some very evil forces vs. American patriots. We have to do more than just pray.

McCain is a friend of ISIS.
Photographed with them. Or was it ISIL?
No matter.
What is he doing still in office?
What do they put in the water in Arizona?

{That was probably Trump foolishly thinking he was buying intraparty peace. Look what the GOPe is doing to him now. He probably feels stupid.}

I think Trump is a lot smarter, more devious (in a positive sense), more manipulative (again, in a positive sense) than his public persona might suggest. He seems to have an innate, well developed sense about human psychology.

He publicly buttered up Neocon Guiliani: then was told to take a hike.He publicly buttered up hapless idiot Romney: then was told he is NFG.All sorts of Neocon scum were floated as possible SectState candidates.And who did he actually nominate? Someone who was not even on radar.

And just a day ago he buttered up traitor Speaker Ryan: Trump silenced the booing and called him a "fine wine".

Like Corleone said "keep your friends close, but enemies closer".(....or was it Machiavelli?)

“I think Trump is a lot smarter, more devious (in a positive sense), more manipulative (again, in a positive sense) than his public persona might suggest. ”

Trump is certainly smarter than a lot of people think.
He won the effing election. It wasn’t an accident. He looked at the rules of the game and he won by the rules of the game. He knew he had to get the EC to win, not the pop. vote, and he that is how he geared his campaign.
Just because he was born with some money in his back pocket doesn’t mean he is stupid.
Unlike Bush II, who really was/is stupid.
I think people are going to be surprised.
Just as they were surprised by Obama—but in the other direction.

Crimea was a Russian invasion, but largely supported (and totally unopposed) by the local population, whereas the Donbass was a combination of Russian agitation and probably weapons supply and some organizational help on one hand and some outright Russian intervention on behalf of the rebels in August 2014 on the other.

The Ukrainian army was shooting densely populated areas in Donbass leading to a lot of civilian casualties (probably more out of incompetence and lack of adequate equipment and training than out of malice), and from what I read (and from what I know of human psychology), the population - already inclined to a pro-Russian stance - grew hostile to the Ukrainian government, and possibly even Ukraine as a whole, as a result.

In the meantime (again, based on what I read, and my knowledge of general human psychology), the rest of Ukraine grew more hostile to Russia as a whole, even those parts which used to be pro-Russian before (like Kharkiv), though there might be local exceptions in some parts or demographics of the country.

I personally don't like the idea of a partition of Ukraine (Crimea is another issue to me), but it's difficult to see how it could be achieved without granting some special privileges to these provinces. (I don't think such privileges are much good to the country granting it, like English MPs not voting on Scottish schools but Scottish MPs voting on English schools...) Not an ideal situation. Would've been better if the whole issue (including Crimea) could've been avoided from the get-go.

I really do not think you understand very much about Ukraine.
I am not an expert, but I know a lot more than you!
First, one cannot understand Ukraine-Russian politics without understanding gas politics.

Ukraine govt and oligarchs have been a pain in the butt to Russian for decades (stealing the gas that flows to Europe via Ukraine), and all of the Ukrainian bosses have been part of this screwed-up situation. Russia has had to help Ukraine out constantly. Which it has done willingly because many of those who live in Ukraine, in particular the northeast, are ethnic Russians because of earlier twists in history.

There is a whole lot more that could be said on the economic front—how Russia has kept Ukraine afloat financially—but at some point people have to go and do their own research.
Re” invasion of Crimea”, you of course understand that the Russian military has a 99-year treaty with Ukraine for use of the naval base at Sebastopol, hence, Russian military have a right to be in Crimea.

You also understand, of course, that the Catholic/Orthodox line runs right down the middle of Ukraine. It might not mean much to you but it means a heck of a lot in Ukraine. The Catholics on the left bank of the Dnyepr hate the orthodox Russians on the right. After the coup, Russian speakers in Ukraine were attacked and many were killed and otherwise abused, for example, economically. Of course those in the east did not accept the coup government as legitimate. Why should they? It is in fact a puppet regime. There is plenty of evidence of this.

It is kind of funny that the USA thinks it is OK to invade Grenada to protect a few college students, and excoriates Russia for supporting thousands of ethnic Russians in Ukraine with food etc. and kindly accepting the results of the referendum in Crimea. And accepting I don’t know how many—possibly a million—refugees in Russia who are fleeing the Nazi Banderitzi in Ukraine .

The USA is, simply, in the wrong in both Ukraine and Syria. In bed with the wrong people. Both situations are evidence of the USA’s determination to harass Russia on her borders and near abroad and within her borders anywhere any any way that they can.

I am incredulous that people who have access to the Internet and speak and read English still babble about a Russian “invasion” of Crimea and/or Ukraine.

"Early in his presidency, if not before, Trump is going to have to impose his foreign policy upon his own party and, indeed, upon his own government. "

Play hardball. Don't be nice to them. You must get dirty when draining the swamp.

McCain - Release tapes of broadcasts from Hanoi and proof of his dealings with ISIS
Obama - Show proof that Obama travelled on Indonesian passport and all you can get on him.
Un-sanitize his biography.
Clinton - Continue investigation into server, Benghazi and pay to play. Lock her up.
Schumer - Get some dirt on this guy! NSA?

I watched the press conference. I am not convinced that the new argument is the slum dunk but it is pretty strong. They have some other person BD from which some features seemed to be copy-pasted to Obama's long form BD.

I think it is a good move. I think they sat on the new evidence but decided to act now. I would not be surprised if the sleazy operative like Roger Stone was behind the timing. I would do the same but I am not sleazy.

I watched the press conference. I am not convinced that the new argument is the slum dunk but it is pretty strong. They have some other person BD from which some features seemed to be copy-pasted to Obama’s long form BD.

I think it is a good move. I think they sat on the new evidence but decided to act now. I would not be surprised if the sleazy operative like Roger Stone was behind the timing. I would do the same but I am not sleazy.

How is Juan "Manchurian" McCain still in office? I thought Arizona conservatives were pretty "based," as the kids say

His iron grip on the state Republican Party, along with his record of successful party purges, ensures his continual renomination.

His primary opponents — when he has any — lack the intelligence to run against him one at a time, guaranteeing fragmentation of the opposition vote; or if they do, I suspect he routinely funds a third (someone like, say, Clair Van Steenwyk, a wackjob who was actually running in the R primary this year for a Senate AND a House seat simultaneously) to achieve the same effect.

Past the primary, his D opponent is invariably a liberal like Ann Kirkpatrick that no true Arizonan wants to see in federal office, and the stubborn voter willing to take that risk for one term if only to oust McCain is besieged by other Republican voters clamoring about the apocalyptic danger of losing Senate majority status.

It’s an easy game to win when you understand it, and McCain plays it well.

Little Marco will back down. His presidential ambitions would be destroyed if he back stabs Trump. Many in the Republican NeoCon camp will face the wrath of their constituency if they do the same. I doubt the Democrats will vote as a block, there is a true progressive element who are against the NeoCon majority of their party. Tillerson will be nominated.

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